I have the greatest little sissy on the face of the earth. My online sissy and I exchanged Christmas gifts this year and she sent me the Rurôni Kenshin Director's Cut CD. She is the coolest! I sent her something that I think is equally cool, a deck or Kenshin playing cards. Glad you like them, Sissy! ^_^

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February 5th

"Hey, come on, let's shop a bit, hmm?"

Sonomi stretched in the cool morning sunlight. After sitting on the train for so long, her muscles and joints were all stiff. She was putting her plan in motion, however, Harusame had virtually no feminine clothes and she knew that none of her things were suitable to wear at a hot spring.

"I just want to get there already." Harusame countered impatiently, "I'm dying to see this kid. She must be the only child in Kobe with two mamas."

"You don't have anything to wear."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?!"

"You look like a little boy in that get-up. You need something more mature. You cannot wear that at a hot spring…You need a nice yukata." Sonomi folded her arms across her chest. Her mouth was set in a firm line and her eyes were full of a certain stubbornness one could only see from Akikumo Sonomi.

"No!" Harusame exclaimed, "Never! What I have is fine, right, Sojiro?"

The young man's eyes widened ever-so-slightly and he took a step back. Both girls were glaring at him and he wasn't sure quite what to say to them. "Now now…Harusame, you look very lovely in that." He said slowly, "But perhaps Sonomi is right…If we're going to a hot spring, you should have a nice yukata to wear."

"Oh, all right! You people will be the death of me…I hate clothes shopping…" She grumbled.

Sonomi smirked. She knew that her friend would do as Sojiro suggested, simply because she was happy keeping him happy. She laughed to herself. This was going to be too easy. "Come on; this way. There's a nice shop not too far from here…" She grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her off, Sojiro following behind them.

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Gesshoku had helped Kietsu get dressed. For the past half a year, the little girl had been insistent that she could do it herself, but she still got tangled up in her clothes on occasion and required the help of one or the other of her parents.

"Papa!"

Kamatari looked up, watching fondly as his wife and their daughter wander down the hall together, hand in hand. He had been shuffling through a letter from his mother that was several pages long and bored him to no end. Aika was a woman of gossip and she felt it her duty to spread the gossip, so the letter was nothing more than a series of stories about neighbors Kamatari could only half-recall.

"Papa!" Kietsu ran to him and he grinned, scooping her up into his arms. She hugged him tightly, kissed him on the cheek, then fought her way down to the ground. "Do I look pretty today?" She twirled around, displaying her outfit. So like her mother.

"Beautiful, Little Lady." He patted her on the head, then looked up at Gessho. "Good morning, Darling." He leaned over, kissing her softly, and she smiled in return.

Kietsu looked up at her parents, clutching a few of her father's fingers. She knew Papa had lots of names for her, but "Darling" was the special one reserved for Mama. She knew Papa and Mama acted differently towards one another than most other Papas and Mamas, but she wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was the way they looked at each other, or the way they were so open with one another, or perhaps it was something deeper. Little Kietsu was too young to understand.

"Mama…Outside." She begged.

"Breakfast first, Sweetie." Gessho told her, "Now come on, Grandmother is waiting for us." She took the little girl up in her arms, "And what do we say when we see Grandmother?"

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Obasan." Kietsu chirped obediently.

"Good girl. And what do you do…?"

A soft smile crossed Kamatari's face as he watched his wife and their daughter. He remembered vividly how Gessho had reacted to the discovery that they were to have Kietsu and he was glad her attitude regarding the child had changed.

"Kamatari…Kamatari."

"What's wrong, Koishii?" She'd come to him sniffling one day, her face red from crying, and he'd pulled her into his arms, hugging her gently, wondering what had upset her so. She'd buried her face in his chest, still sobbing.

"It's terrible…" Her voice was muffled by the silk of his kimono. It was a beautiful summer day; they'd been married nearly two and a half years and they were outside Tokyo. Gessho hadn't been feeling well, but she had chalked it up to a lack of proper food over the past few days. They had been on the road for about a week and had just stopped in a village.

"What's terrible?" He rubbed her back, speculating over what had her so distressed.

"We're having a baby!" She sobbed.

"A what?" He blinked, wondering if he'd heard correctly. She was…pregnant?

"A baby…"

"Isn't that a good thing, Darling?" He asked softly, unsure just why she was so distraught over this. He didn't see what was bad about it, in fact, the news rather pleased him. He would be happy to be a father and take care of a child.

"No! It ruins everything! We'll have to go home now. We can't go dragging a baby all over the place. It wouldn't be right. But I don't want to go home…I don't want a baby, Kamatari. I'm not ready yet. You said when I was ready…" She dissolved into fresh tears, her face once again pressed up against his chest.

"I know you're not ready yet. But we talked about this. Nature doesn't care if you're ready or not, Darling, and we're going to have to deal with it, whether or not you want a baby. We did 'that' and this is the consequence." He hugged her tightly, his chin rested on her head.

"But…But I'm not ready…" She whispered.

"Well, ready or not…We're going to love this baby, Koishii. And we're going to be wonderful parents. You'll see. It won't be so bad. We can still travel for a while; take our time going home. Don't cry; everything will be okay."

A slight nod was her only response. She had been so happy; so free. Now a baby…it would tie them down, force them to stay at home. She didn't hate the baby. It wasn't its fault; it didn't ask to be born. But the simple fact was…She didn't want a child.

"Kamatari?"

"Hmm?" He blinked, snapping back to reality.

Kumori was looking at him, a peculiar look on her face. She was constantly trying to decipher the other-worldly expressions on her son-in-law's face, wondering what was running through his mind. She knew he was a quirky man with homosexual tendencies, and looks like that made her ill at ease. "I asked when your friends are supposed to be coming."

"Oh, sometime today, Kumori-san." He replied cheerfully, brushing back a strand of his hair. "Sonomi said they'd be around after they did a little shopping."

"Shopping?" Gessho looked at him sharply, "Who's shopping? Not Harusame. She hates shopping."

"Oh yes. Sonomi thinks she intimidates Sojiro by her boyishness. She wants to get her looking a little more feminine. She was going to con our young friend into shopping one way or another."

"Sonomi is quite clever. If any one could get Harusame to dress up, it would be her." A sly smile crossed Gessho's face as she lifted her tea cup to her lips, "I suppose Harusame and I are similar in the fact that neither of us like to dress up the way we should."

"You're getting better about it, Darling. You don't fight with me about kimonos any more and besides, some one has to wear them now that I'm not any more." He winked at her, then looked over at Kietsu, "Eat, Sweetie."

"I don't like it." She folded her arms, wrinkling up her little nose.

"If you don't eat it, you don't get to go outside." He threatened, shaking a finger at her. Normally, Kietsu had him wrapped around her little finger, but when it came to mealtimes he was all business.

She pouted for a moment, then began to eat, taking slow, laborious bites, making horrid faces as she chewed. They still weren't sure why exactly she was so picky; both of them ate nearly anything placed before them.

"I have to go into Kyoto today, Dear." Kumori addressed her daughter, "Would you please do the dishes and some laundry."

"Oh…I was going to take the baby outside. I suppose that will have to wait." The young woman sighed.

Kamatari smiled at her. "No, you go out with the little lady. I'll take care of the chores. You don't spend as much time with her as I do." He would do anything for the happiness of his wife and daughter; anything at all. Without them, life would be incredibly dull and lonely. Kietsu had been the best mistake he ever made.

"Really?" She looked up, her eyes hopeful.

"For you, Darling, anything." He assured her. Getting on with life had been tough but he was comfortable with where he was at that point. He owed Gessho a lot. She had been supportive of him and loved him, even when he could not love her back. And, oh, her patience had paid off for her in the end. He had a sudden urge to take her back to bed right then and he cursed his uncooperative male body. He did love her, but he considered himself above lust and hated when his body said otherwise. Lust had been for Shishio-sama. One does not lust after one's own wife.

"Thank you." She smiled happily, then looked over at Kietsu. "Are you done eating, Sweetie?"

"A'most." The girl chirped. She had a few bites left and knew she couldn't leave the table until she cleaned her plate.

"Good girl." Gessho rose to her feet to take her dishes back to the kitchen. Kietsu was done eating when she returned and the child hoped up, ready to go outside. "Go get your haori and we'll go out."

"Yay!" She scampered out the door and down the hall.

Her parents smiled after her, pleased by how joyful their baby was. Gessho turned to her husband. "Don't work too hard, Kamatari." She bent to kiss him and he pulled her down, returning the kiss furiously. She held his face in her hands as they kissed a third time.

Kumori didn't even bat an eye as this went on, just continued reading her newspaper. She had gotten used to the open displays of affection over the past three years, even though they were not something commonly accepted in polite society. Her daughter cherished that unusual man immensely and they were shamelessly loving with one another.

Kietsu came running back into the room, dragging her pink haori behind her. She stopped a few steps after crossing the threshold, gaping at her parents. She had never seen any other adults so passionate with one another as her mama and papa. This is how she knew they weren't like other mamas and papas, even if she didn't understand this knowledge. "Le's go, Mama."

Gessho drew back from Kamatari, her hand lingering on her cheek. "I'll see you later." Then she turned to Kietsu. "All right, Sweetie. Let's go explore."

"Hai!" Kietsu's little head bobbed up and down and she put her hand in her mother's, pulling her towards the door.

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"It'll look great on you, Harusame."

"Yeah, right."

"Really. You've got to start dressing more like a girl or you'll never get a husband."

"Maybe I don't want a husband, Sonomi."

Sojiro frowned. His two companions had been bickering back and forth all day and it was driving him crazy. Normally, it took a lot to rile the boy. He wasn't easily rattled. But the two of them…He was frightened of them both. He wished they would stop arguing and that Sonomi would stop goading Harusame about getting married. That annoyed him because he knew she was talking about him and Harusame.

"You should want a husband."

"Well I DON'T!"

"Ladies…Please stop fighting. Give my ears a break…" Sojiro said through gritted teeth.

Both girls looked at him. The former Tenken was not one who complained often; usually he took everything with a smile. He had learned to hide things away -anger, pain, annoyance- and look perpetually happy. Seeing him exasperated was scarce.

"Gomen."

"Sorry, Sou."

"I just hate to see people fight over stupid things. Harusame, that yukata will look lovely on you. And Sonomi, leave Harusame alone about getting married. If she doesn't want to, it's no business of yours." He pushed past them and stormed up the path, grumbling to himself. Did she seriously have no desire to marry? Was his heart going to be broken?

"Ohayo."

Sojiro looked down when he felt some one tugging on the leg of his hakama. A little child in a pink haori was grinning up at him, her cheeks rosy and her hair tousled around her face. She held a stick that she'd been dragging behind her in one hand and his pant leg in the other. "Ohayo, Little One." He smiled, "Where's your mama or papa?"

"Mama's comin'." She said cheerfully, "You wanna play?"

"Play what?" He wondered if this were Kamatari's daughter. She had the same thin hair and soft brown eyes. But then, other children could have the same features. However, this little girl also had his carefree smile, pale skin and sense of style. Maybe he was just so curious about his friend's child that he imagined this little girl looked like him, but he was sure she must have been Kietsu.

"Let's fight!" She released his clothing and brandished the stick. She crouched a little, shifting her weight, picking up a unique fighting stance.

"I'm sorry, Little One. I don't fight." He told her laughingly, glad his sword was out of sight. She truly was her father's child.

"Oh. Well then…" She frowned lightly.

"Sweetie, where are you?"

Sojiro was certain now. That was none than Gesshoku who was looking for the girl. He recognized her voice. She came around the curve in the path at the same time as Harusame and Sonomi caught up with him.

Silence for a moment. The four friends looked at one another. Then Gessho burst into a grin and shrieked happily. "You guys! You made it!"

Kietsu stood beside Sojiro, watching as the three women chatted with one another, all of them speaking at once. Her mother's voice boomed over the other two, rapid, excited, over-enthused. She was slightly intimidated by them -all bigger than her and talking about things she didn't understand- and she hid behind her mother.

They continued talking and the little girl felt herself pushed forward to the center of the group. The two other woman were looking at her; exclaiming over how cute she was, how much she looked like her father. She looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, then she shrank back a little, trying to hide behind her mama, which didn't work. So she did what every other small child would.

She burst into tears.

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